| Homepage - Contents - S. The History of the Most Important Watch Manufacturers, 4. Citizen | < Previous page | Next page > |
| 1918 | Citizen is founded by Mr. Yamalaki, the owner of a small jewellery store. He started 'Shokosha', a workshop equipped with Swiss machines. Its first product was a pocket watch which was named 'Citizen Watch', developed by Mr. Goto, Mayor of Tokyo. |
| 1924 | Citizen's first pocket watch manufactured in December. |
| 1930 | After the reorganisation and expansion of the Shokosha workshop, the Citizen Watch Co.Ltd is founded by Mr. Makajima. |
| 1932 | Citizen merges with the watch case factory Star Shokai. |
| 1935 | Opening of the new factory in Tanashi, Tokio. |
| 1936 | Start of watch exports. |
| 1941 | A merger with Nitto Seiko Co. is established for the production of precision tool machines for watch making. |
| 1940 | During the war Citizen produces mainly war material and is seriously damaged by bombs. |
| 1946 | The new president, Mr. Eliichi Yamada, sets up postwar production: the start of a success-story. |
| 1949 | An independent sales company is founded: the Citizen Trading Company Ltd. |
| 1953 | Technical and commercial co-operation between Citizen and Rhythm Watch starts. Rhythm Watch controlled an important part of the large-scale clock making market. According to an agreement of 1961, Citizen obtained the right to market about 80% of the products of Rhythm Watch under its own name. |
| 1956 | The 'Parashock', the first Japanese shock-resistant watch reaches the market in 1956. The watch is an improved version of the 1931 'Parashock'. |
| 1958 | The first Japanese mechanical alarm wrist watch, the 'Citizen Alarm', is put on the market in June. |
| 1958 | Licence and trade agreement with Bulova Watch Company in the USA. Between 1960 and 1970 about two million 'Caravelle' Bulova watches were uipped with Citizen movements. |
| 1964 | Citizen establishes the Tokorozawa Technical Laboratories for research purposes and the development of electronic watches. |
| 1966 | In March, Citizen presents the first electronic watch in Japan, the 'X-8 Cosmotron' with spring balance and transistor. At the same time Japan's first electronic clock, the 'Elitron', is marketed. |
| 1967 | The X-8 Cosmotron, a man's transistorised watch with four magnets on the balance and two fixed coils, is launched in October. Movements were sold to about twenty foreign companies including Bulova, who manufactured complete watches under their own name: cal. 0802, 0820, 0884, 0840, 0880, 4840. Citizen was faced with strong competition from the cheaper Seiko-Electronic 3300. The first quartz table-clock by Citizen, the "Crystron", is marketed in January. |
| 1970 | A joint venture between Citizen (49 %) and Bulova (51 %) is agreed for three years. It leads to the production of hundreds of thousands of the 'Hi Sonic', a tuning fork watch for the Japanese market and later on for the South-east Asian market. In June, the IC-12 (caliber 5800), a lady's watch with an integrated circuit (IC), eight magnets on the balance and two fixed coils is launched. At that time it is the smallest electronic watch ever produced for ladies. |
| 1971 | In October Citizen marketed the first Japanese tuning fork wrist watch: caliber 3700. Production capacity rises to eight million watches. |
| 1972 | The Citizen 'Quartz Crystron Alarm' (caliber 9021), the first LCD watch in the world with alarm. The 'Bulova Citizen Watch Co.Ltd' was founded in April 1972. |
| 1973 | 'Citizen Quartz Crystron'. The first quartz watch of Citizen with balance and hands (cal. 8811B) marketed in August. |
| 1974 | In April, Citizen starts the sale of the first LCD watch by Citizen, the 'Quartz Crystron LC' (caliber 9010 A). It is the first LCD watch with time, day and date. Citizen develops a prototype of a solar-powered analogue watch. The expensive cadmium battery prevented commercial production. The Citizen 'Quartz Crystron LC' is released: the first lady's LCD quartz watch in Japan. |
| 1975 | Citizen 'Quartz Crystron LED'. In December, the Citizen 'Quartz Crystron Mega', the first quartz watch with an extremely high frequency of 4,194,304 Hz reaches the market. |
| 1976 | In April, Citizen markets the 'Quartz Crystron LC/Alarm'. The first LCD watch with an alarm, caliber 9021. In August, Citizen markets the 'Quartz Crystron Solar Cell'. The first solar cell watch with hands. The Citizen 'Digital Slim'. At that moment the thinnest LCD watch in Japan. Pierre Cardin designs a range of watches for Citizen. |
| 1977 | The first Japanese LCD quartz watch with calculator is marketed in April. |
| 1978 | In January, the Citizen 'Quartz Crystron Multi Alarm' (caliber 9100A). The watch comprises two independent alarm functions, each with its own signal. Citizen breaks the one-millimeter barrier in the quest for the flattest watch in the world and manufactures a movement (caliber 7900 or 790). |
| 1980 | In November, Citizen marketed the smallest ladies' analogue LCD quartz watch: the Citizen Quartz 1500. |
| 1982 | Citizen 'Ana Digi Temp'. The world's first electronic watch with a built-in thermometer is marketed in November. With the Citizen 'Seven Quartz Spectro' the intensity of light can be measured. |
| 1984 | The Citizen 'Quartz Voice Memo'. A watch with a built-in sound recorder. |
| 1985 | In December, Citizen markets the first diver's watch with an electronic depth meter, the Aqualand, which measures depth to 80 meters. |
| 1987 | In July, the Citizen 'VX-2 Voice Master' is marketed. All functions can be activated solely by the speech of the owner. |
| 1992 | World's first analogue multizone radio-controlled wrist watch. |
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